For eons man has attempted to control his environment. Modern man works and lives in buildings with controlled environments. Many devices for conditioning the air have become more sophisticated and complex. One device, the forced air fuel fired furnace requires a number of parts or assemblies including a separate fan section and a separate heat exchanger. The centrifugal fan takes in air parallel to its axis of rotation. It discharges the air perpendicular to its axis of rotation and forces the air past the outer surfaces of the heat exchanger chambers. The heat exchanger is made up of one or more sealed chambers that transport inside the sealed chambers combustion gases while transferring heat energy to the air passing on the outside of the chambers without mixing the air with the combustion gases.
The combining of both the fan housing and the heat exchanger into one unique compact assembly presented here is designed to provide energy transfer as well as to direct air flow. All the components of the device are made and arranged to facilitate in these tasks.
The housing of the device has five individual openings and one set of one or more openings. The remainder of the housing of the device is air sealed. The device takes in new air from the environment through the two inlets and directs it through the blades of the centrifugal fan. The new air continues past the heat exchanger chamber(s) absorbing heat from the heat exchanger and exits out of the outlet opening of the device. The gas train provides the fuel to air mixture and ignition of this mixture which enters the heat exchanger chamber (s) through the one set of one or more openings of the device. The combustion gas mixture travels inside the heat exchanger chamber(s) transferring heat to the new air that is outside the chamber(s) and then to be scavenged by the draft fan motor assembly and exhausted out through the exhaust vent pipe opening in the device. The new air from the environment and the combustion gas mixture do not mix while in the device.
The invention is a unique fan housing with an integrated heat exchanger that directs air flow through the device and provides heat transfer from the combustion gas mixture to the new air from the environment. The combustion gas mixture and new air never make contact with each other in the device.